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Innovation

Innovation

Part of FSC's vision is a shift in global forest trends – from social and environmental degradation to sustainable use, conservation, restoration and respect for forests and those that depend on them. FSC pioneered forest certification decades ago, and we continue to innovate, whether that means certification in new sectors or using more efficient, digital tools.

The future is bright

FSC aims to continuously innovate and improve, empowering forest stakeholders and growing markets to achieve sustainable forest management. We were the first to develop certification standards for sustainable forest management, and the first to provide an ecosystem services certification procedure to incentivise forest owners

The high level of growth required in global market share is only feasible if FSC develops truly meaningful digital solutions for certification.

As a result, FSC will add digital-based supporting tools to its certification products prior to 2023. Our aim is to develop digital options in our certification system. These options will both increase credibility and lower the costs of certification.

We do this because our credibility – the promise behind the label – is a fundamental principle and value of who we are, how we work, and what we stand for. We are also committed to meeting the needs of our stakeholders, by lowering costs and easing administrative burdens.

Earth observation is continuously improving, and FSC is utilising this technology internally and through strategic partnerships to improve our transparency and our services to stakeholders. Geographic information system (GIS) mapping of certified forest area is just the beginning.

Integrity is a core value for FSC: a fundamental principle and value of who we are, how we work, and what we stand for. With its enhanced data security and traceability, blockchain technology has enormous, game-changing potential that reaches far beyond the realm of finance. And people around the world are researching, experimenting with, and increasingly deploying the technology to address the big problems of our time, from the refugee crisis to climate change. FSC is exploring how to best utilise this technology to improve supply chain integrity in the FSC system.

FSC works with the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL) and other ISEAL members to develop an information and data standard for sustainability. This work is supported by the ISEAL Innovation Fund.

We will be piloting and introducing digital audit reports. This will enable us to appropriately access aggregated audit data and easily identify trends, impacts and risk areas to evaluate and improve the FSC system.

Forest for the future podcasts

Why should FSC digitalize?

Why is it so important that FSC invests in digital? Can tech tools really protect forests? And how will new tools impact current and future FSC certificate holders, retailers, NGOs, governments, researchers and consumers? That’s what we will ask the director of FSC Kim Carstensen and the CIO of FSC Michael Marus in this first episode of Forest for the future. Listen now